Quotes
What does this quote mean?
"Because in the water she could go faster than a man."
Vardaman still believes his mother is a fish and believes she could swim away if Darl does not catch her.
Religion
Cora, Addie
Who said this?
"I hollering catch her Darl catch her and he didn't come back because she was too heavy he had to go on catching her and I hollering catch her darl catch her darl..."
Vardaman
"[The current] clucks and murmurs [...] with thick soiled gouts of foam as though it had sweat, lathering, like a driven horse."
Simile
What does this quote mean?
"'Log, fiddlesticks,' Cora said. 'It was the hand of God.' 'Then how can you say it was foolish?' I said. 'Nobody can't guard against the hand of God. It would be sacrilege to try to."
Tull criticizes Cora for blaming Anse but praising Darl for not being on the wagon. He reveals her hypocrisy.
Luck/Misfortune
Anse
Who said this?
"'If ever was such a misfortunate man.' [...] 'But I don't bregrudge her it. No man can say I begrudge her it.'"
Anse
"I saw the log. It surged up out of the water and stood for an instant upright [...] like Christ."
Simile/Allusion
What does this quote mean?
"Cash's face is also gravely composed; he and I look at one another with long probing looks, looks that plunge unimpended through one another's eyes..."
Shows Darl's observation of others, his thought process.
Rational/Strategic
Cash
Who said this?
"'If he had been a man, he would a been there instead of making his sons do it.'"
Cora
"'You knew she is a fish but you let her get away.'"
Symbolism/Metaphor
What does this quote mean?
"I was standing knee deep in the water, yelling at Anse behind me: 'See what you done now? See what you done now?'"
Anse always talks about their struggles, but never does anything to help. Tull suggests the crash was his fault.
Existential, identiy, "being"
Darl
Who said this?
"One breath you say they was daring the hand of God to try it, and the next breath you jump on Anse because he wasn't with them."
Tull
"'A fellow might call it lucky [...] But I don't begrudge her it.'"
Verbal Irony
(He keeps saying how he doesn't envy those who have good luck, but continuing to say it shows that he does.)
What does this quote mean?
"Like it was a straight iron bar stuck into the bottom and us holding the end of it, and the wagon lazing up and down, king of pushing and prodding at us like it had come around and got behind us..."
Imagery of the log and the aftermath of the crash. It shows the dangers/struggles that the family will have to go through.
Death, Life
Darl, Vardaman
Who said this?
"It talks up to us in a murmur become ceaseless and myriad, the yellow surface dimpled monstrously into fading swirls travelling along the surface for an instant..."
Darl
"'Log, fiddlesticks,' Cora said. 'It was the hand of God.' 'Then how can you say it was foolish?' I said. 'Nobody can't guard against the hand of God. It would be sacrilege to try to."
Irony